Saturday, November 21, 2009

Well, I haven't sewn a stitch yet, but I have an array of fabrics from which to chose that Ngila Dickson would enjoy! I still have one load of blue drying and burgandy and olive to go yet, but real life has its own demands!The deep aqua fabrics are for the Ice Blue Coat and Victory Dress of Eowyn that are in the previous post, the purer blue fabrics and trims are for my version of the Arwen Requiem for the Elves dress from the 3d film. I will post pics of the olive and burgandy as they are dyed. I really love the joyous feeling I get from changing pale, empty white silks and wools into deep vibrant colors, or else gentle pastels in tranquil colors.

I wish the vibrancy of the colors really came through... nothing can show the piercing vitality. The colors positively sing to me, and when I am sad, or angry, or worried (all things I am these days with the country going as it is) they can make me feel more alive, more exhilarated than I have since I rode horses over cross country courses. And they are less dangerous! I am a little amazed at the multitude of colors, all from the same dyepots and same water. I am also a little surprised that the trim dyed. The scroll is probably acetate, and it took only a little color, but I think the others may be silk as a base. The 2 figured pieces are silk matelasse, there is silk velvet, silk crepe and an interesting silk with squares formed by crammed and spaced dents in the weaving. The lace is cotton, and came out a beautiful silvery blue, that will be the upper sleeves of the Requiem Dress. There is china silk as a lining for the sleeves, and another spaced dent piece in a silverblue that will be the outer layer. I think. But the crepe is so pretty, I want it to show too! I have no idea what the squares will be, but the color is spectacular, eh? Too intense for the Requiem piece, maybe a blouse to wear to work? I just bought a bunch of patterns (on sale of course) and there is certainly a piece or two there to consider. Let others take diamonds as their best friends, jewelry IS lovely, but silk, silk is luscious, opulent, succulent, scrumptious! Mmmm, I think I hear the silk in the dryer calling me now...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

While I try to remain sane in most of my life, there are just times when one must give in and allow a period of total immersion in some project or experience. This is one of those times. Now, that doesn't mean I won't go to work and strive to succeed, and it doesn't mean I stop making Christmas gifts for my friends. But this weekend I will be dyeing silk, drafting patterns and draping a (model) body. After all the gifts are done, I will do the actual sewing of my dream dress and it's coat. The inspiration? This gorgeous set designed for the third Lord of the Rings movie. I actually won't duplicate these, but will alter them to suit me better. The dress will drop from my shoulders rather than be a princess-seamed coathardie type dress. The coat will be somewhat shorter and the sleeves less voluminous to be more wearable... Eowyn only had to wear it while asleep on a chaise. I found a fabulous teal mohair coatweight fabric, a deeper color to suit my coloring. I found a really lovely silk matelasse. It is currently white, but will become a soft aqua, and I have a screaming chartreuse satin that I will tone down before using it for the lining of the coat. Oh, and a lovely pale fur to adorn the neck. Now, if I only had the face and body of Eowyn! This is all in prep for the next LOTR garment I want to make. But more on that later! In the meantime, more stuffies and other fun things to ready an Etsy store.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Whew, well I have missed writing on my blog, but I needed to have a slightly different focas for a while. I haven't been without art though, as the pics show! The first photo ( why blogger put it third I don't know!)is a cat stuffie I made the day before Halloween... I needed to have something to smile about, and he, with his friends the pumpkin I sewed and raven I bought, was perfect!

Next is a wonderful old box I found at one of the thrift shops I visit, which proved to be irresistable to my cat Trouble. It has wonderful brass insets and corners, and obviously handmade drawers. I don't know what I will store in it, but it will have to be something as wonderful as the box.

The balls of yarn are of cotton and merino wool/silk that I spun up. It is really hard to spin cotton thickly... I usually spin wool, and much thinner, and the change is much harder than I imagined. I want to use it as a supplimentary weft for the borders of a cotton shirt I want to weave. I have a lot of practicing to do before then!

The fifth is a set of wrist warmers I knitted and then fulled for a friend for Christmas. I love the ragg type marled yarn. It is the merino and silk I spun up and it is so soft and silky. My friend has very sensitive skin, but this won't bother her a bit!

The last two photos (okay, I love the vagaries of blogger, they put these first!) speak of two places I have gone recently. The house is in Alexandria VA, where I had lunch with a friend and discovered two great shops, one a bead shop, and one mixed media. The house just caught my eye for the lovely ironwork. I plan to do a day trip around DC to tour all the interesting sites in the new Dan Brown book, Lost Symbols. It was fascinating. He is a master of taking the real and historical and weaving them 'round with half truths and fiction to make a compelling story, difficult to put down. I spend my 1.25 hours of commute everyday listening to books on cd. I have a tough time finding more than a few minutes at night to read, so this allows me to "read" during unproductive times. I like that!

And the orange fluffy stuff? Lovely longwool dyed the perfect color to compliment a fall colors grouping of wool I bought over the last year. There should be enough to weave enough fabric for a shawl and maybe a top too. I love those colors.

I also spent time thinking about what I want to do with my life, and how to accomplish it. I won't be too explicit now, but I have alot of work to do to set up my future. I guess I should go back down and work on Christmas, usually it is my fav time of year, though the last few years have been somewhat less so. I plan on this year being better.